I was glad to see more music from “Infini” coming out. The score by Brian Cachia for this story about an elite search and rescue team transported to an off world facility to recover a survivor was brilliant and compelling and the cues that didn’t make it on the official release were bundled up in “Infini: The darker side”. I’m ready for more Sci-fi atmospheric goodness.

This second part starts louder than the first. “Quarantine flashback” has a relentless buildup that really gets my blood flowing. I don’t think this flashback was about something good. This is one of the cues I can’t wait to test for my speed running playlist because it can push me to the limits. I think this opening theme was just a decoy though because the “Alien” atmosphere returns with the next few cues. “Looking for the bar” is particularly reminiscent of that legendary atmosphere with the constant whirring / spinning sound that made those movies famous.

The atmosphere in “Infini – the darker side” is colder than the one in the first score. The sound is still uncomfortable and thick at times and it nails the outer space sensation but I feel lonelier when I listen to a cue like “Force the override”. I can’t connect with it as easily as I could when the ambient were more operatic, more melodic. This cue only gets there at the end. Still I can’t pull away from this score. Brian Cachia knows how to entice the listener and make him want to see how the musical story ends. I want to hear what’s going on; his sound is quite addictive and I will be looking for it in other scores.

Surprisingly for me, given what I loved about “Infini”, I am more excited about the loud action parts from “The darker side”. “Payload infection” is everything a Sci-fi horror fan could wish for in a cue, from a gripping pace to the choir that makes it through the wreckage towards the end, a choir which has the might of the ones from “Spartacus”.

This collection of cues doesn’t feel as cohesive and connected as the original “Infini”. I think the two albums would have worked better as a whole. The listening experience of this second part felt a bit more fragmented and there was something missing. The cues by themselves are great but together they don’t make up a story. I will probably end up making my own playlist from both albums.